Girl, 17, killed in car crash in West Rogers Park

As Orthodox Christians, Bahara Echmail's family fled religious persecution in Iraq, arriving in Chicago about five years ago with dreams of a better life.

On Saturday, the family was instead grieving at their West Rogers Park home after 17-year-old Echmail died in a car crash less than two miles away on her way home from a birthday party.

Her 14-year-old sister, Berola, remained hospitalized with a broken hip and other injuries, while the 20-year-old driver was in critical condition, Chicago police said.

"We don't understand it. God's will is God's will," said Mayda Tamo, a cousin, as people filed in and out of the family's two-flat.

Both girls were riding with four friends in a 2003 Ford Explorer when the vehicle reportedly sped through a stop sign shortly after 2 a.m. in the 6700 block of North Artesian Avenue and struck a westbound car on North Shore Avenue, according to police.

The SUV then struck two parked cars before hitting a tree. Echmail was pronounced dead at 3:14 a.m. at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

"They were all just friends from the neighborhood, having a fun night," Tamo said.

Bahara Echmail came to Chicago with her sister and their mother because they were subject to persecution in their native Iraq, said Diana Kheyo, another cousin. "They weren't free to practice their religion there," Kheyo said.

After a short time in Holland they moved to Chicago, among the large community of Middle Easterners on the city's North Side, many of them Christians and other Iraqis who have arrived as refugees by the hundreds in recent years.

"They have been through so much, and she was a wonderful girl," Kheyo said.

The family became involved at the nearby St. George's Assyrian church. Echmail's mother married and had a son.

Though pretty and outgoing, Bahara Echmail was dedicated to her family, relatives said.

"Bahara was the oldest child," cousin Neraf Aremya said. "She always wanted to take care of her younger sister and brother; that was pretty much her life."

In addition to the driver, who police would not identify, the injured included several other passengers. A 17-year-old boy was in guarded condition, a 16-year-old girl was in critical condition, and a 15-year-old girl was also in stable condition, police said.